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Part 1: The Wonder of Imagination Every once in a while I get really irritated at those who criticize without the benefit of knowledge. It makes me wish I were God so I could force them to drop their pants, bend over and accept ten swats with a paddle (with holes drilled through it). Too often, the value of gaming is muddied because critics look at it through unenlightened eyes instead of learned, rational ones. …

In a terse press release, the International Game Developers Association announced that Dr. Tim Langdell of Edge Games has voluntarily resigned his position on the IGDA board. As such, the recently announced special membership meeting to vote on Langdell’s possible ouster will no longer take place. Regardless of your position on the recent furor over Dr. Langdell’s and his company’s behavior, it is interesting that Langdell’s resignation comes at a time when public opinion was …

This week’s Wii Virtual Console treat is the original Phantasy Star, first seen on the Sega Master System. It costs 500 “Wii Points,” but I’m not sure of the exchange rate on that. This is where it started, people, the console RPG that spawned a franchise and still claims devotees to this day. Phantasy Star is a dark and often disturbing tale of heroism, revenge, and power-mad governance with distinct overtones of Nazism, Big-Brotherism, Fascism, …

All MMOers, even those who don’t play, should watch The Guild, actress/writer/geek grrl hottie Felicia Day’s hilariously goofy and surprisingly accurate webshow send-up of what happens when game junkies meet in meatspace. Day is a Real Life actress, having appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, House, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and various commercials involving Cheetos and washing machines. Her scripts for The Guild bely a whip-smart sense of humor and true understanding of geekery. The …

Shadow Complex, Chair Entertainment’s XBLA-available, Unreal 3.0-powered, side-scrolling, 2.5D send up to Super Metroid’s and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night’s beloved exploratory action platforming is by all accounts a pretty good game. I just started it, so I’ll withhold judgment, but it does look great so far. Problem? Shadow Complex takes place in the fictional universe of Empire, a novel by acclaimed sci-fi-ist Orson Scott Card. Card consulted on the game’s development and has been …

Sometimes I think I am losing it. Stuff is happening that I thought, at one time, would never happen. But, here we are, a bunch of old farts starting to discover video games. Now, understand, when I say old farts, I am referring to people in their fifth, sixth and seventh decade. One has to wonder what that will mean to the future of the gaming industry, much less to the future of civilization. Will Gramps turn into a rapist or a murderer?

So, I’m a bit of an arachnophobe. I spotted a spider making its way from my living room’s ceiling to my living room’s floor the other day and while I managed to throw it out the window eventually, it involved a lot of screaming and panicked jumps all over the room. To be clear here: I don’t hate spiders. I don’t kill spiders, ever. I merely don’t want them near me. Surely, that is not …

Here, there, and everywhere, Sony has finally revealed what we all knew: the PS3 Slim is a reality, it is a PS3, and it is slim. And it’s $299, and God dammit, but now there’s just no reason not to get the thing.

Edge Games has released a public statement regarding the Edge trademark infringement fiasco, and though it’s unpleasantly formatted there is a lot of interesting reading there. In the meantime, the IGDA has finally acted, as a corps of disillusioned members (using somewhat less than unsleazy means) finally got enough signatures from members to force a special meeting, the purpose of which is to discuss the removal of Tim Langdell from the IGDA Board of Directors. …

The degree to which I hate Activision/Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is nigh-unmeasurable. I loathe the man; I hope he falls into a deep, deep hole with ground glass and spikes and hot lava and sharks and scorpions and poison and fire ants and chromic acid and knives and dead puppies at the bottom. I didn’t think it would be possible – you know, physically – for me to despise anyone in the games industry more …

Shameless nepotism? Probably. But I own the place, so I can get away with behavior like this.

My big brother Marcus’s latest novel, The Amateurs, is available at finer retail establishments throughout the universe today, as well as via the electron sea at locales such as Amazon. I strongly urge you to buy it, because I have read it and it is excellent.

Review by Meho Krljic Fighting games are back. Technically they never went away and yet this is exactly the year in which we can talk about their return. They came, they saw, they smashed. Living to see such high profile releases as the PC port of Street Fighter IV reminds me that despite what Slipknot say, all hope is not gone. Join us today in reviewing three recent fighters: Street Fighter IV (PC), King of …